Seedy Saturday is back with another year featuring spring seeds and garden shows. Highlights include seeds for sale, gardening talks included with admission, garden and food products, and much more. This event is fun for the whole family with a special session for gardeners aged five–eight years of age. Get excited about spring cleaning this year and plan your garden for the year ahead with helpful tips from experts.

Chinese New Year begins on Feb. 19 and will continue into March. If you haven’t had a chance to celebrate the New Year, head down to Chinatown to partake in the many festivities. From lion dancing, kung fu and tai chi demonstrations, to dragon performances, this event will be a cultural experience.

Feb. 22, 12–4 p.m.

Chinatown, 500 block of Fisgard St., Victoria

Admission: Free

VICTORIA SPOKEN WORD FESTIVAL

Victoria’s Spoken Word Festival is back for it’s fifth annual festival with poetry mash ups, improv writing, and collaborative performances. Venues include the Victoria Event Centre, Intrepid Theatre, and Metro Theatre, and spans Feb. 23–Mar. 1. For the festival finale, the All-Star Festival Ensemble will perform a show written in one day.

Celebrate the Pacific Baroque Festival this year as they present “The Justly Celebrated Mr. Handel”. The festival includes a series of five concerts aimed to show off George Frederick Handel’s rich musical works.

Songstress Chance Lovett will be joined by Nicholas Mintenko, Sean Thompson, and Dakota Hoeppner celebrating Black History Month with gospel, blues, and jazz. Justin Carter, known for his one-man play, “Son Of Africville”, will open the evening with a special performance. This event is sponsored by the Belfry Theatre, the Greater Victoria Public Library, and the B.C. Black History Awareness Society.

UVic’s School of Music presents over 30 concert bands from the Pacific Northwest. This non-competitive festival will have on-stage clinics by an adjudicator following each band’s performance. Bandfest spans over two days with up to eight hours of music each day.